Towing cable control apparatus

ABSTRACT

AN APPARATUS HAVING CABLE GUIDING MEMBERS WHICH CAN BE RETRACTED TO AN INOPERATIVE POSITION OR EXTENDED TO AN OPERATIVE POSITION WITH BOTH MOVEMENTS BEING ACTUATED BY AN OPERATOR STATIONED A SAFE DISTANCE FROM THE GUIDED PORTION OF THE CABLE.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Howard M. Leerning 5075 C1if1 Drive,RR. #2. Ladner. British Columbia, Canada [21] Appl. No. 825,791 [22}Filed May 19,1969 [45] Patented June 28, 1971 [54] TOWING CABLE CONTROLAPPARATUS 5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] [1.8. CI 254/190, 254/150 [51] Int. Cl 866d 1/36 [50] Field0[Search..... 254/190, 150, 190(0); 114/235 [56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 1,598,802 9/1926 Brown 254/190 1 I l I 1 1 n n 1 u I 1Primary Examiner-Harvey C. Hornsby Assistant Examiner-Merle F. MaffeiAttorney-Fetherstonhaugh and Co.

ABSTRACT: An apparatus having cable guiding members which can beretracted to an inoperative position or extended to an operativeposition with both movements being actuated by an operator stationed asafe distance from the guided portion of the cable.

PAIENTEU Juuzs I97! SHEEI 1 OF 3 mvem'on HOWARD M. LEEMING A T TORNEYSTOWING CABLE CONTROL APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION My inventionrelates to apparatus for controlling a cable under tension and moreparticularly for controlling a towline securing a load to a towingvessel.

Deep sea towing vessels and even harbor tugs often encounter unexpectedrough weather when they have a heavy load under tow. In conditions ofhigh winds and heavy seas, the towline attached to the tow will slashback and fourth across the stern of the tug and, in some instances, willeven snap up and down to hammer against the stern bulwark. This cancause excessive wear to both cable and tug parts and also increases therisk of the towline breaking. In addition, the uncontrolled movements ofthe cable make it difficult to keep both the towing and towed vesselsunder proper control.

One well-known attempt to solve this long standing problem has been toequip the tug with the devices commonly called towing pins which areinstalled on the stern of the tug to restrict lateral movement of thetowing cable. However, such pins have to be installed, adjusted, andlater removed by hand and this will often place one or more members ofthe crew in a position of considerable danger where they can be injuredby the whipping cable or even swept overboard by waves which break overthe stern of the tug.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I have overcome the above as well as otherdisadvantages of conventional towing pins by providing apparatus whichforms part of the stern bulwark of a tug for example, to provide a pathof travel for a tow linebeing paid out or hauled in by a winch on thetug while secured to a tow. Cable guiding members mounted within theapparatus can be projected upwardly to halt any tendency for the towlineto whip back and forth across the stern as it is likely to do in roughweather. Another cable guiding member can be projected upwardly to holdthe cable and to prevent it from moving upwardly out of engagement withthe first mentioned members. The various members can be operatedquickly, easily, and individually from a remote station so as to retainthe cable without the necessity of any of the crew of the towing vesselapproaching the stem or appearing on an exposed portion of the deck. Bybringing the members into operation in proper sequence, a wildlythreshing cable can be captured and held without interfering in any waywith the subsequent paying out and hauling in of the cable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of atowing vessel fitted with the towing cable control apparatus, inaccordance with the present invention, 7

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the stern of thevessel showing a pair of the vertical guide members raised and a thirdvertical guide member and a horizontal guide member both retracted,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a vertical section taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4, and

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view of the operating means and the controlmeans therefore.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIG. 1, thetowing cable control apparatus is indicated generally to by the numeral10 and is shown in a typical installation mounted on the stern of a tug12. The towing vessel or tug 12 is equipped with the usual towing winchl4 and a long length of cable 15 is carried by this winch. Cable -15extends over the stern bulwark 16 when the vessel has a barge or otherload (not shown) under tow.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the apparatus 10 will beseen to comprise a frame 20 which is set disposed roller 33, the rollerprojecting a short distance out of recess 21 to slightly overhang thestern of the tug. As the towing cable 15 is paid out or wound in by thewinch 14, it slides over the top plate 26 but mainly is supported by theroller 33 so that friction and wear are both reduced to a minimum.

In this particular embodiment of the invention, the apparatus 10 isprovided with a vertical guide member which is generally indicated at 36and is shown in detail in FIG. 5. Referring now to FIG. 5, the member 36is shown as comprising a vertically disposed cylinder 38 which extendsbetween the plates 24 and 26 of the frame 10, the cylinder beingsuitably secured to these plates. Top plate 26 has an opening 39 whichregisters with the bore 40 of the cylinder 38. Slidably mounted in thebore of the cylinder 38, is a cylindrical ram 42 which is fitted at theupper end thereof with a cap 43. When the ram 42 is fully retracted, thecap 43 is received in the opening 39 and is flush with the top surfaceof the plate'26. Cylinder 38 has a longitudinal keyway 45 and a key 46is secured to the lower end of the ram 42 for sliding movement in thiskeyway. Thus, the ram 42 can be extended and retracted a distancedetermined by the length of the keyway 45 and, at the same time, the ramis nonrotatably mounted within the cylinder. Intermediate the length ofthe ram 42, there is a shoulder 48 and mounted between this shoulder andthe cap 43 is a sleeve 49. Needle bearings 50 are fitted between thesleeve 49 and the adjacent surface of the ram 42 so that said sleeve isfree to rotate about the common axes of the ram and the cylinder 38.

Alongside the extensible guide member 36, there is another extensibleguide member which is generally indicated at 52. Member 52 is of thesame construction as member 36 and has a ram 53 which is adapted to moveup and down through an opening 54 (FIG. 2) formed in the top plate 26.The vertically disposed members 36 and 52 are intended to serve asguides for the cable 15 and for that reason they are transversely spacedapart to define a gap 56 only slightly wider than the diameter of thetowing cable, see FIGS. 2 and 4. Preferably, the location of the gap 56is such that an extension of the vertical axis of the gap wouldintersect the longitudinal axis of the tug l2 and therefore the pair ofextensible guide members 36 and 52 are disposed nearer to the end 29than to the end 28 of the frame 20.

Still another extensive guide member 60 is mounted in the frame 20 nearthe end 28, this member being of the same construction as the other twomembers and having a ram 61 which moves through an opening 62 (FIG. 2)in the top plate 26. Member 60 is spaced a much greater distance fromthe members 36 than is the member 52. This provides a large gap 64, seeparticularly FIG. 4, across which the cable 15 is free to slide back andforth with the member 60 serving as a stop to prevent the towing cablefrom swinging beyond the end 28 of the frame.

The apparatus 10 also includes a horizontal guide member generallyindicated at 70 and shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. Referring nowparticularly to FIGS. 3 and 4, the frame 20 will be seen to have a part20A which carries one end of a forwardly projecting extension 26A to thetop plate 26. Extension 26A has a rectangular opening 72, the major axisof this opening being aligned with the center of the gap 56. In FIGS. 3and 4, member 70 is shown to comprise a block 74 which is hingedlymounted to swing vertically through the rectangular opening 72. To mountthe block 74 for this particular swinging movement, a pair oftransversely spaced tubular bosses 75 and 76 are provided on theunderside of said block. A horizontal and transversely extending shaft77 is mounted in the bosses 75 and 76. The extension 26A is providedwith depending trunnion sleeves 78 and 79 and the opposite ends of theshaft 77 which project laterally beyond the bosses 75 and 76, arejournaled in these sleeves. Thus, the hinged block 74 is mounted toswing about the horizontal and transverse axis of the shaft 77 duringwhich time it moves vertically through the rectangular opening 72.

The block 74 of the horizontal guide member 70 has a side face 82 whichis on the left as viewed in FIG. 4. Formed in this face 82 is a channel83 which extends longitudinally of the block 74. The inner portion 83Aof the channel is enlarged and is substantially semicircular in crosssection while the outer portion 838 of said channel is suitably flarednear the face 82 to ensure ease of entry into the channel. The axis ofthe channel portion 83A is disposed in the same vertical plane as theaxis of the gap 56-between the pair of vertical guide members 36 and 52.In FIG. 3, it will be seen that the upper part of the channel portion83A is rounded as at 85 and 86 near the two ends of the block 74. Thus,when the towing cable 15 is lodged in the channel 83, it can bend aroundthe block 74 in a vertical plane without being kinked or otherwisedamaged.

Preferably, the frame 20 is fitted with a housing generally indicated at87. This housing is formed by a suitable number of sloping side plates88 which extend between the deck 25 and the top plate 26 to form aclosure for some of the operating parts of the apparatus.

Means generally indicated at 90 is provided for raising and lowering thevertical guide members 36, 52 and 60 as well as the horizontal guidemember 70. Referring again to FIG. 5, one of the units making up theoperating means 90 is shown to comprise a double acting hydrauliccylinder 92 having a piston rod 93. The lower end of the cylinder 92 issecured to a horizontal shaft 95 and the opposite ends of this shaftproject through and are suitably secured to the cylinder 38. A suitablyshaped opening 96 is formed in the lower end of the ram 42 to allow theopposite ends of the shaft 95 to engage the cylinder 38. Piston rod 93is threaded into a nut 98 welded to the underside of the cap 43 and acotter pin 99 extends through the nut and rod to prevent separation ofthese two parts. Thus, the lower end of the cylinder 92 can bepressurized to extend the ram 42 and place a major part of the sleeve 49above the top plate 26, as shown in FIG. 5. When the upper end of thecylinder 92 is pressurized, the ram 42 is retracted. The vertical guidemembers 52 and 61) are each fitted with the same cylinder and piston rodarrangement as the member 36. The corresponding arrangement of parts forthe members 52 and 60 are shown by dotted lines in FIGS. 4 and 6 onlywhere they are designated generally by the numerals 101 and 102.

The operating means 90 also includes a hydraulic cylinder 105 which hasa piston rod 1.06, see FIG. 3. A bearing block 108 is welded or boltedto the deck 25 and a pivot pin 109 secures the forward end of theinclined double acting cylinder 105 to this bearing block. The pistonrod 106 is secured to a toggle arm 110 by a pivot pin 111. Arm 110 ismade up of two parts 110A and 1108, these parts being connected togetherby a pivot pin 112. A bearing block 114 is suitably secured to thebaseplate 24 of the frame and a pivot pin 115 secures the part 110A tothis bearing block. Another pivot pin 116 secures the part 110B to anend ofa boss 117 which is formed on the underside of the block 74 toproject laterally therefrom as shown best in FIG. 4. Part 110A of thetoggle arm is fitted with a stop bar 120 and this stop bar is adapted toengage the part 1108 to prevent the toggle arm from folding forwardly ofthe solid line position shown in FIG. 3. When the lower end of thedouble acting hydraulic cylinder 105 is pressurized, the toggle arm 110is swung to the dotted line position of FIG. 3 whereupon the block 74 isretracted through the opening 72 and below the extension 26A. Fluidpressure can be fed to the upper end of the cylinder 105 to straightenthe toggle arm 119 and swing the block 74 upwardly through the opening72 to the fully extended position position shown in solid line in FIG.3.

In FIG. 6, a hydraulic circuit for the operating means is indicatedgenerally at 121. Circuit 121 includes hose lines 122, 123, 124 and 125which connect the cylinders 92, 101, 102 and respectively to a junctionbox 127 mounted on the baseplate 24. The cylinder 38 and ram 42 of themember 36 is provided with openings 129 and 130, see FIG. 5, which allowthe lines to pass through these telescoping parts of said vertical guidemember. The members 52 and 60 have similar openings (not shown) to admittheir corresponding lines 123 and 124 to junction box 127. Preferablythe other lines which extend away from the box 127 to other parts of thecircuit are for the most part, strung below the deck 25 of the tug so asnot to provide an obstruction and so that they are not exposed todamage. Circuit 121 connects the cylinders 92, 101, 102 and 105 of theseveral guide members to a source of fluid pressure which may be a pump131 driven by a motor 132. A reservoir tank 133 is suitably connected tothe pump 131 to provide a supply of fluid for the circuit.

Included in the circuit 121, is a means generally indicated at 134 foractuating the operating means 90 selectively to raise the vertical guidemembers 36, 52 and 60, and also the horizontal guide member 70. Controlmeans 134 is shown in FIG. 6 to comprise manually operable valves 136,137, 138 and 139. These four valves are mounted on a console 140, seeFIG. 1, which stands on or near the bridge of the vessel 12 in alocation which provides a clear unobstructed view of the stern of thetug.

In order to explain the operation of the towing cable control apparatus10, it will be assumed the tug 12 is proceeding in calm weather with abarge or the like under tow. At this time, the various cable guidingmembers will be in retracted position and the towing cable 15 will bestretched across the stern so as to run freely over the stern roller 33.Assuming now that the weather turns storm, the cable 15 probably willstart to saw back and forth across the bulwark 16 as the tug repeatedlyis swung off course to some extent by wind and wave action. A member ofthe crew will man the console 140 and, by operation of valve 137, willraise the ram 53 of the vertical guide member 52. The helmsman will thenswing the bow to port whereupon the cable 15 will move into contact withthe raised ram 53. As this occurs, the operator will move valve 136 toraise the ram 42 so as to trap the cable between the two raised rams.The pair of vertical guide members 36 and 52 now contain the cable sothat it can no longer move laterally across the stern. If the towingcable is paid out or wound in at this time, it runs freely over thestern roller 33 and between the extended rams, 42 and 53. The coaxialsleeve 49 of ram 42 and the counterpart of this sleeve on ram 53 will beengaged alternately by the cable so to journal the tow line as it passesthrough the gap 56.

Assuming now that the weather worsens and the seas become very rough,the cable 15 may tend to jump out of the gap 56 and pound up and down onthe bulwark 16 as the stern is raised and lowered by wave action. Toprevent this cable pounding, the man at the controls raises the ram 61of the guide member 60 and lowers the ram 42 of the guide member 36. Hethen signals for a small turn to starboard and this maneuver places thecable hard against the raised ram 61. Valve'139 is then operated toswing the block 74 upwardly to the horizontal position shown in FIGS. 3and 4 of the tug and the bow is turned slightly to port to cause thecable to move across the top plate 26 and enter the channel 83. Ram 42is again raised so that the towing cable is held against lateralmovement out of the channel 83. The cable 15 is now held so that itcannot move upwardly or transversely while at the same time it is freeto run out or be hauled in.

Assuming now that the tug is proceeding up a narrow shipping channelwhere the traffic may be heavy and the weather calm, the tug probablywill be required to keep the barge being towed under close haul toensure a safe passage. Control over both the tug and the barge can beimproved by raising, say, the guide members 52 and 60 while the members36 and 70 are kept in their retracted positions. The towing ble todispense with the vertical guide members 52 and 60..lf 5

such a simplified apparatus was considered desirable, the horizontalguide member 70 and the vertical guide member 36 could be used to holdthe towing cable against both vertical and transverse movements.

Some tugs, particularly those engaged in deep sea towing, use twotowlines to secure the load being hauled. The present apparatus isreadily modified to handle two towing cables, in which case, a twinextensible guide member is provided for the member 60. Also, anotherhorizontal guide member is provided so that both cables can becontrolled against transverse and vertical movements as before.

FRom the foregoing, it will be apparent l have provided an extremelyeffective apparatus for controlling the movements of a towing cable. Acable can readily be captured and contained by the apparatus without theneed for anyone approaching the stern of the vessel and the cable isproperly guided by the cable engaging members at all times. The samecable guiding members are useful in good weather as well as bad toprovide better control over the towed and towing vessels in confined ortraffic congested waters. When the towing cable is closely confinedon'the stern of the tug there is less tendency for the two vessels towanderoff course and the helmsman is able to concentrate on themaneuvers necessary to keep both vessels under proper control.

1 claim:

1. Apparatus for controlling a towing cable comprising a frame having atop plate over which said towing cable is adapted to movelongitudinally, a pair of vertical guide members mounted in the framefor reciprocating movement above and below the top plate, said pair ofvertical guide members when disposed above the top plate defining a gapthrough which the towing cable slidably extends, a horizontal guidemember spaced from said vertical guide members and mounted in the framefor swinging movement above and below the top plate. said horizontalguide member having a longitudinal channel extending into a sidethereof, said towing cable slidably extending through the longitudinalchannel when the horizontal guide member is disposed above the topplate, operating means for separately raising each of the pair ofvertical guide members and the horizontal guide member above the topplate to contain the towing cable, and manually operable remote controlmeans for selectively actuating the operating means.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and including a horizontal rollermounted to guide the towing cable as said cable moves longitudinallyacross the top plate.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said pair of vertical guidemembers each includes an extensible ram adapted to be projected abovethe top plate, said extensible rims each having a coaxial sleeverotatably mounted thereon for engagement by the towing cable, and saidhorizontal guide member being mounted for swinging movement about ahorizontal axis to an extended position above the top plate and aretracted position therebelow.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, in which said operating meansincludes a fluid cylinder and piston rod therefor for each of the pairof vertical guide members and the horizontal guide member.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and including a third vertical guidemember mounted in the frame for movement above and below the top plate,said third vertical guide member being transversely spaced from the pairof vertical guide members opposite the longitudinal channel of thehorizontal guide member, said operating means being operable to raisethe third vertical guide member, and said control means beingselectively operable to cause the operating means to raise the thirdvertical guide member independently of the pair of vertical guidemembers and the horizontal guide member.

